Google Search Engine joins Facebook in fight against Ebola

It was only last week that the fight against Ebola received a huge boost when Facebook proprietor Mark Zuckerberg announced that he was donating a monumental $25 million to aid the cause and integrating interactive and easy buttons onto the social media platform in order to make it simple for its huge user base to follow suit.

And it appears that his actions have had wider ramifications than first thought, with digital counterpart Google announcing yesterday that it has officially begun a public fundraising campaign in order to assist nonprofits which are currently in the midst of trying to bring the Ebola virus under control.

The American Multinational confirmed that they would also donate $2 dollar for every $1 that a Google user parts with and would supplement their financial support with an awareness campaign that has already seen information about Ebola added to their all-encompassing Knowledge Graph technology.

As illustrated above, a search query for “Ebola” will produce a top result which provides a small description of the virus taken from material from the CDC, as well as a “what you need” section for those seeking to learn more about the outbreak and virus itself.

Their fundraising campaign is set to be even more impressive, with Google also identifying that they will donate $10 million to international support agencies such as The International Rescue Committee, UNICEF and InSTEDD.

Very similar to Facebook’s strategy in this area, Google has placed a “donate” link at the top of their home-page on the Google Chrome Browser in order to aid the global cause against Ebola.

Following Facebook’s lead, Google has included a “Donate” link on the top of its homepage in Chrome to help with its fundraising efforts:

It is refreshing to see two of the globe’s biggest organisations drop the mask of formality and forget their day-to-day competition in order to tackle the hugely damaging virus of Ebola. Such altruism conducted with what it appears to be such sincerity by those in power is rare, and displays positive signs for the global community in the future that the wealthiest in mankind are willing to take a leading role in order to uphold values of life and liberation.

The decision of both Google and Facebook to raise awareness of Ebola – as well as to provide financial support to contain the virus – is arguably even more important to assisting a cause which has lost momentum financially though over-saturation in its media coverage and a failure to amply connect with the audience it is trying to convince to donate. As Facebook pointed out, many charity groups have complied that they haven’t acquired as many donations as they first expected – particularly from wealthier countries – which suggests either a communal apathy towards the disease or a lack of understanding about how important it is to act fast in order to combat it. The awareness campaign will hopefully alert Google users of the importance of donating fast and should function effectively with the donation campaign in order to bolster the search engines overall intake levels.

Zuckerberg himself was subjected to some unnecessary criticisms about his motives behind the donations, with one fool taking to Facebook to try and accuse the Facebook proprietor of hypocrisy in relation to the encouragement of donations. For his part Zuckerberg was having none of it, dismantling the critics words in a couple of sentences and re-affirming his commitment to fighting Ebola worldwide.

If you are someone who feels strongly about Ebola, or do not believe you know enough yet about the virus to feel implored to donate, please check out the info page via the Google search bar and consider donating, because unlike a number of charities the Google cause is sincere and will not serve to line the pockets of higher up members of the American Multinational. Instead, it appears we are seeing one of the biggest powerhouses in the world display a degree of altruism that is both refreshing and rare in equal measure; raising the prospects of the globe in the future as faith begins to be restored in those who have often had the wealth, but have failed to do anything to maintain global stability.

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Ben Wittams-Smith is a content writer for Just SEO and the Company Director of JSEO LTD. As a specialist in SEO, SEM and digital marketing, Ben regularly contributes content and provides analytic insight in these areas.